Tuesday 29 October 2013

Earthly Love


Love Song (—Henry Dumas)

Beloved,
I have to adore the earth:

The wind must have heard
your voice once.
It echoes and sings like you.

The soil must have tasted
you once.
It is laden with your scent.

The trees honor you
in gold
and blush when you pass.

I know why the north country
is frozen.
It has been trying to preserve
your memory.

I know why the desert
burns with fever.
It has wept too long without you.

On hands and knees,
the ocean begs up the beach,
and falls at your feet.

I have to adore
the mirror of the earth.
You have taught her well
how to be beautiful.


I want to sleep with you (—Joyce Mansour, 1955)

I want to sleep with you side by side 
Our hair intertwined 
Our sexes joined 
With your mouth for a pillow. 
I want to sleep with you back to back 
With no breath to part us 
No words to distract us 
No eyes to lie to us 
With no clothes on. 
To sleep with you breast to breast 
Tense and sweating 
Shining with a thousand quivers 
Consumed by ecstatic mad inertia 
Stretched out on your shadow 
Hammered by your tongue 
To die in a rabbit’s rotting teeth 
Happy.


The Great Fisherman of the Sea (—okei)

Carry me slowly, life!
Slowly down your stream.
In a mountain pool 
With salmon let me dream.
Save me from net and hook,
Treachery unwound.
Let me read your book
Whose truth is love unbound.
Carry me gently, life!
Gently to your sea…
If I thrash and quiver,
Know it’s only me.


Painting: The Dust Weavers (Margarita Georgiadis, 2009)

2 comments:

  1. okei, such rich, luminous words. My favourite are your words! What images you evoke. Truly splendid.

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  2. You are super-kind! Thank you!

    Much metta!

    ReplyDelete